Slayer announces first leg of farewell world tour, which opens with San Diego arena show

Photo by Alik Keplicz/AP

Slayer guitarist Kerry King is shown performing at the Sonisphere festival in Warsaw, Poland. The band has announced its farewell world tour, which begins in May at San Diego's Valley View Casino Center.

Slayer guitarist Kerry King is shown performing at the Sonisphere festival in Warsaw, Poland. The band has announced its farewell world tour, which begins in May at San Diego's Valley View Casino Center. (Photo by Alik Keplicz/AP)

Bang the head slowly: Slayer will kick off the first leg of its farewell world tour with a May 10 concert at San Diego’s Valley View Casino Center, with dates running through June 20 at Austin’s 360 Amphitheatre.

Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament will be the opening acts. All tour dates and cities appear below. (Anthrax is also performing Feb. 13 at San Diego’s House of Blues.)

Slayer has won two Grammy Awards, both in the Best Metal Performance category, for “Eyes of the Insane” and “Final Six.” Noted for its ferocious music and intense lyrics about death, hell and various places in between, the 37-year-old thrash-metal band from Huntington Beach inspired a generation of like-minded groups.

No official reason has been given for Slayer’s decision to retire. But the band’s bassist-singer Tom Araya told a Loudwire interviewer in 2016 that he wanted to spend more time with his family. He also noted that the grind of touring was weighing heavily on his mind, as was surgery that left him unable to headbang.

"There's things that have gone on in my life that have made me change how I play as a bass player,” Araya, 56, told Loudwire.

“I had neck surgery, so I can't headbang anymore. And that was a big part of what I enjoyed doing what I do — singing and headbanging. I liked knowing that I was one of the (expletive) bad-ass headbangers. That played a big part.”

Tickets for all of the newly announced Slayer farewell tour dates go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time. There will be a pre-sale for Slayer fan club members, beginning today, Tuesday, at noon. Spotify and Blabbermouth pre-sales will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

A “very limited” number of VIP packages, which include meet-and-greets with Slayer, will be available and are priced at $299 and $499 each.

Tickets for the San Diego show will be available through axs.com and by phone at: (888) 929-7849. The Valley View Casino Center box office does not open until 11 a.m., an hour after tickets go on sale Friday.

The Valley View Casino Center concert will have a standing-room-only policy for the arena floor and all tickets are general admission. Ticket prices are $59.50, plus service charges. That price goes up to $64.50 on the day of the show.